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Todays San Bernardino County Sheriffs Press Release:
On Friday April 2, 2010, at 0850 hours deputies were called to the 21000 block of Sitting Bull Rd in the Town of Apple Valley to investigate a vandalism that had just occured. During the investigation deputies discovered the suspect, Thomas Mcmanus 44, of Apple Valley, had degraded the victims by using racial slurs.
Mcmanus had been making racial comments to all of his neighbors over the past few weeks based on race. It appears Mcmanus was attempting to intimidate his neighbors to move from the community.
During the investigation, deputies discovered Mcmanus had shattered the victim’s front window of their residence while making racial slurs to the family. Mcmanus fled the scene and returned to his residence. Deputies contacted Mcmanus at his residence and arrested the suspect without incident.
Mcmanus is currently being held at the Victorville jail in lieu of $35000.00 bail.
I don’t think anyone is about to argue that throwing rocks through a neighbors window or threatening them with violence is not a crime. A fellow that threatens to do bodily harm to another, and has the ability to follow through, because of what ever reason should be subject to some sort of potential legal action. Got no problem with that.
But I draw the line at charging folks with this stuff called “Hate Speech” being a crime. Hate speech as it is now referred to is no matter how you cut it political, religious or social commentary. No matter how objectionable the speech it is in my opinion protected.
We just ran through a 4 years stretch of people in an obscure little left wing environmental group accusing many of us of being “lawless” criminals, child abusers and worse, they called us in the Off-road community everything but Human Beings. Yet we never thought that their right of free speech be curtailed because they were promoting hate.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The United States federal government and state governments are broadly forbidden by the First Amendment of the Constitution from restricting speech. See, e.g., Gitlow v. New York (1925), incorporating the free speech clause. Generally speaking, the First Amendment prohibits governments from regulating the content of speech, subject to a few recognized exceptions such as defamation and incitement to riot. Even in cases where speech encourages illegal violence, instances of incitement qualify as criminal only if the threat of violence is imminent. This strict standard prevents prosecution of many cases of incitement, including prosecution of those advocating violent opposition to the government, and those exhorting violence against racial, ethnic, or gender minorities. See, e.g., Yates v. United States (1957), Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969).
Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers may sometimes be prosecuted for tolerating “hate speech” by their employees, if that speech contributes to a broader pattern of harassment resulting in a “hostile or offensive working environment” for other employees. See, e.g., Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (1986), Patterson v. McLean Credit Union (1989).
In the 1980s and 1990s, more than 350 public universities adopted “speech codes” regulating discriminatory speech by faculty and students. These codes have not fared well in the courts, where they are frequently overturned as violations of the First Amendment. See, e.g., Doe v. Michigan (1989), UWM Post v. Board of Regents of University of Wisconsin (1991), Dambrot v. Central Michigan University (1995), Corry v. Stanford (1995). Debate over restriction of “hate speech” in public universities has resurfaced with the adoption of anti-harassment codes covering discriminatory speech.
It seems that California is becoming one of those places like Canada where folks don’t want to hear a disparaging word about anything that might remotely offend some fringe group. Oh, you can speak volumes and write reams of hate against White, Anglo-Saxon Males in California. Left wing loons like Phil Klasky have made a whole carreer out of transferance of guilt and hate to most majority race folks.
While I do not agree with or support folks who hate because it is easier to hate than to think, I believe that they have a Constitutional Right to spew their venom.
I fear a nation that wants to squelch obnoxious or unpopular speech. Even when it is a neighbor vs. neighbor, he said she said argument. We have plenty of laws on the books to handle Assault, Battery, Vandalism and property damage. We need these “Hate Speech” laws repealed before good people go to jail for disagreeing with unpopular government officials and government actions.
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Don’t forget Christianity and in that “Oh, you can speak volumes and write reams of hate against” list.